Night Broodings
by cade
Summary: Link has a heart to heart with the Triforce


Night Broodings  
By cade  
  
Ratings: PG   
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, don't sue me.  
Note: This is the Link from the first two games and the cartoon featured in this fic.  
  
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Night fell and the castle slept. Except for Link. He sat at his window staring out over the moon lit hills and vales of Hyrule. It was a beautiful land; it called to his blood and awakened the inherited memories of his ancestors.   
  
'Someday,' Link thought, 'someday I will go south and I will find Lake Hylia and the Great Wasteland. I will walk where my fore bearers walked. I will go to the ruins of Kakariko Village and I will search the cemetery for their tombs. Someday...'   
  
Part of him yearned to return to Calatia though. He missed his family. The warm brood of brothers and sisters, his solid and loving adopted parents, Arn and Medila. He missed the inn they had owned and the acres of vineyards he had run through barefoot as a child. He missed his greatest teacher and real mother. The warrior-woman who had never willingly abandoned him.   
  
Hyrule was his destiny, to be Guardian of the Triforce, of the land, and the Princess Zelda. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, Zelda. She was a problem. The princess was an impossible girl. She was brave, yes. Beautiful, naturally. But she was also rash, impetuous and sometimes unfeeling. Gratitude did not remain long in her memory. Sometimes, Link felt she looked down upon him for his peasant origins. At the few royal functions he'd been allowed to, Zelda's 16th birthday fete and the Festival of Din, Link had felt out of place and anxious among the glittering laughing horde of Zelda's golden circle of courtiers.   
"This is the HERO?" Some had asked, as if they had expected more. "This is the one who defeated Ganon?" Not that any of the foppish gallants fluttering about the princess had done anything so brave. During the dark years of Zelda's imprisonment and enchanted sleep, they had all been scared witless.   
  
Link frowned out into the Darkness. Why should he care if the court snubbed him? His first duty was to the Triforce and the Goddesses. Mortal opinion didn't matter anymore. He and Zelda would die and be replaced by a new generation in time. The wheel of life would keep turning, taking flesh and blood away. But the Triforce would remain, as it had from the beginning.   
  
The enormity of the entire cycle was slightly frightening to Link. The idea of being a part, even a tiny mortal part, of the grand tapestry of the universe, was daunting. It was like looking out at the night sky and trying to count the stars, or looking out over the Endless Sea. It was eternity, a concept so huge; Link could barely grasp the edges of it. But he trusted it would go on. Forever and ever, world without end.   
  
The clouds moved lazily, and the moon began it's descent into the horizon. Link knew sleep was far off. He got up from the window seat and looked around his room. It was small really, and unadorned. But Link didn't mind. The only grandeur was the tiny alcove where the Triforce lay in its silent splendor.   
  
Link had to smile; so much had been waged in the name of such a small item. Each piece of the Triforce could sit perfectly in the palm of his hand. They were the last remnants of a time when the Goddesses still moved among the people, and the gates to the long lost Sacred Realm were still open. But Link's smile faded as he thought of the wars and murder also committed in the relic's name. Not only by Ganon, but also by wizards and warriors unnumbered, all seeking the Golden Power.   
  
"What do you want from us?" Link asked the inanimate triangle impulsively. "You were created by the Goddesses, yet you seem to bring out the worst in us." He could remember times when he had wanted to use its power to prove to Zelda, to the royals, to the world, that he was more than a glorified slave. Those memories were tinged with shame now, and the hero regretted ever thinking such thoughts. The sign that marked him as Guardian and Hero remained upon his hand, and if the Triforce condemned or applauded his will, he would never know. The relic was silent, watching all, but giving out nothing.   
  
"I think sometimes you mock us." Link continued quietly, uncertain why he was even speaking. "Are you a blessing or a curse to us?"   
  
The room was silent, leaving the hero alone in the light of the Triforce and the setting moon. He wondered if Zelda asked these questions, or even, if Ganon had all those centuries ago before the madness set in. Had any of his ancestors ever questioned the true purpose of the Triforce?   
  
No, Link realized. He was perhaps, the only one who questioned. A tiny shudder ran through the Calatian, and he turned away from the Triforce, suddenly uncomfortable with the ideas that were coming to him. Link walked away from the alcove, to his bed and crawled under the covers. It was at least an hour before dawn, and sleep would be good escape from the haunting questions that nagged him. He rolled over so his back was to the Triforce and he closed his eyes, blotting out the golden glow. In the morning, there might be answers and everything would be normal. But the seed of doubt had been sown, and Link huddled closer into himself, trying to ignore the feeling of being watched by ancient, inhuman eyes.   
  
If the Triforce had eyes of course....   
  
END  



End file.
